


death by a thousand cuts

by thesurielships



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Angst, F/M, really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:14:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27408634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesurielships/pseuds/thesurielships
Summary: Set in Cruel Summer’s au by @charincharge.I completely recommend you read it, but just for context: Aelin is rich. Rowan is not. He works at her family’s amusement park. That’s where they meet and it all begins. Dorian is her bestfriend and there is nothing romantic at all between them, but this fic here is set in an au inside this au (a fanfic of a fanfic, my God I am thrilled) where Aelin leaves Rowan for Dorian. The reasons are unspecified.
Relationships: Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien & Dorian Havilliard, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien & Rowan Whitethorn, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien/Dorian Havilliard, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien/Rowan Whitethorn
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	death by a thousand cuts

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Cruel Summer](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24238657) by [charincharge](https://archiveofourown.org/users/charincharge/pseuds/charincharge). 



Rowan watches Aelin from the other side of the kitchen island. She is perched on the counter, legs crossed, an irreverent smirk on her sinful lips as she smirks at him over her cup of coffee.

He almost backs out, almost leaves without asking the question that’s been working at him ever since she left him two weeks ago, and he’s had to watch her parade Dorian around town. They were already attached at the hip before, but now with the new romantic turn their relationship has taken, they got so much worse. So far, he’s caught them making out in the ferris wheel, singing the cheesiest duet they could find in the dive bar’s karaoke, posting a thousand pictures of them being disgustingly domestic on Instagram. Her parents are elated, the park’s staff still chuckle as if they had seen it coming all along.

And Rowan is nursing a broken heart that he’s not sure will ever heal.

Aelin cocks an eyebrow and he is jolted back to the cruel reality. He has to hurry; Dor Loverboy will be here anytime.

He takes a deep breath, then whispers on his exhale, “What does he have that I don’t?”

“Money,” Aelin replies matter-of-factly.

Rowan’s eyes flash.

“Is that what you expected me to say?” She rounds the kitchen island and plants herself firmly in front of him, close enough to touch. “Would that be easier for you to handle? Would it feed your inferiority complex, and that’s much more comfortable for you than facing your own fucking flaws? What, are you happy that now you have an actual reason to hate the wealthy?”

“Ace, I –“

Aelin’s eyes flare with fury. Her index finger pokes his chest so hard he winces. “Don’t call me that.” Another poke. “You have lost the right to call me that.” Yet another. “Do you want to know why, Rowan?”

Her voice turns breathy as she snakes a hand up his chest, the other resting on his shoulder as she leans in, her sweet scent of jasmine and vanilla enveloping him and getting under his skin.

“Do you want to know why I left you, Rowan?” she purrs, and he hates how his heart speeds up at her closeness. Dread coils in his stomach when she brushes her lips against the shell of his ear. “Do you want to know why I picked Dorian?”

He braces himself, not bothering to answer. There is no stopping Aelin Ashryver’s wrath, anyway.

She takes a step back, crossing her arms. Her eyes are alight with fire he has never seen before, and he realizes he has crossed a red line he can never come back from.

Aelin will never forgive him.

“He is loyal. He is kind. He is not so blinded by his own insecurity that he hurts other people and uses his own misery as an excuse.” She snaps her fingers in front of his face, and he thinks his heart snaps in two. “Wake up, Rowan. We’re all miserable here. Get over yourself.”

He laughs humorlessly. “As expected, you’re a bitch to the bitter end.”

Aelin gapes at his choice of words.

“You are the one who made me feel inadequate. You are so full of yourself, you walk as if you own this world but the truth is you own nothing. Even your family doesn’t trust you enough to hand you the park. That’s why they made Aedion – who’s not even their real son – their heir, isn’t it?”

Aelin’s nostrils flare, and he feels a sick satisfaction at the hurt that flashes across her face.

“Oh, sorry. Did I strike a nerve? Did I, by some miracle, find an insecurity of perfect Aelin Ashryver?” He pauses, shakes his head. “You think by pretending you’re fine and above everything you really will be okay, but the truth is you’re just drowning in your own misery, aren’t you? You’re still ‘looking for yourself’,” he uses air quotes he doesn’t need because the sarcasm in his voice is clear and sharp as a knife. “But you’re just a grown ass adult who’s still relying on her parents to pay her rent, while doing absolutely nothing with your life.”

Her eyes gleam with unshed tears, and Rowan finally stops in his tirade. He can see the exact moment she gives up, the anger leaving her body in a whoosh, leaving her deflated and all the worse for wear.

“Just...” she runs a hand through her hair, sighing wearily. “Leave, Rowan.”

He doesn’t need to be told twice.

And he doesn’t look back as he walks out of her kitchen and of her life.


End file.
